Freycinet National Park

19th - 20th March 2017

Long drive from Geeveston, back up through Hobart then east to Sorrell.  We stopped here to top our tanks up with water then headed north towards the Freycinet National Park. Pulled into Spiky Beach for a late lunch, had a lovely view of the national park over the water. 

Spiky Beach

Finally made camp at the Coles Bay Golf Club, the National Park campground was booked out.  Too tired after the long drive to do any walks today.  Unfortunately the weather was rubbish the next day.  Ferg took off early for the walk up to Wineglass Bay Lookout.  I just wanted a quiet morning in the van.

Wineglass Bay

Later in the day we both took a walk around the Cape Tourville lighthouse. Spectacular views, pity the weather wasn't better.

Southern tip of Tassie

16th - 18th March 2017

Camped at the Geeveston RSL for three nights while we toured the southern tip of Tassie. It was a lovely free camp right on a babbling brook with ducks, geese and platypus to keep us company.  Ferg spent hours trying to get a pic of a red breasted wren, they were very elusive.

Had a lovely bush walk up in the mountains south of Dover, to Duckhole Lake.  Most of the walk was on boardwalk which made it easy.  

Duckhole Lake

We enjoyed the town of Geeveston, sampling a scallop pie at the bakery and having dinner at the RSL on the Friday night.  On Saturday morning we set off early to drive down to Cockle Creek.  It is the farthest point south you can drive in Australia.  We had a stunning day for it and enjoyed a lovely walk along the beach of Recherche Bay.

Franklin

15th March 2017

After tearing ourselves away from Gordon we traveled back up the peninsula to Huonville, then turned south again to Franklin.  We found a camp at the Franklin Rec Reserve overlooking the Huon River.  We took a drive up to the Hartz  Mountains National Park.  We did the 4km walk to Lake Esperance.  The alpine scenery was amazing and the lake was well worth the walk.  Most of the track was on boardwalks over small creeks and boggy marshlands.  The views were stunning, felt like you were on top of the world.

South from Hobart

14th March 2017

Left Hobart today, the weather is magnificent.  Traveled south through the city following the Derwent River. We kept to the coastline going through Snug, Kettering, Flowerpot and finally to the small community of Gordon.  Love the names of the towns down here!  We got a great waterfront campsite at the Gordon Recreation Reserve.  What a beautiful place.

Lovely birdlife, Ferg even tried a bit of fishing, no luck though.

The evening was just as stunning with a full moon shining on the water.

Stairway to heaven!

 And this is what we woke up to, an amazing sunrise, wow! Thank you Gordon for a lovely camp for only $5 per night.

Back to Hobart

8th - 13th March 2017

We decided to spend another six days in Hobart to avoid the long weekend campers.  Did a day trip to Richmond to check out all the galleries, the old bridge and gaol.

Richmond Bridge

Richmond Gaol

Enjoyed Hobarts wonderful scenery with walks along the Derwent River.

Tasman Bridge

Had a lovely day out in the Huon Valley and visited the Taste of the Huon Festival.  Lots of lovely food tastings and great music.  The apple orchards were amazing with stunning red apples dropping off the trees.

Taste of the Huon Festival

Thanks Bill and June for letting us park in your backyard with stunning views over the Derwent River.  We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Hobart.

Tasman Peninsula

6th - 8th March 2017

We had a wonderful 2 days on the peninsula, basing ourselves at the Nubeena RSL free camp.  We visited Remarkable Cave, Ferg jumped the fence and walked out through the cave.

Remarkable Cave

Coastline above Remarkable Cave

We did a lovely 4km walk to Waterfall Bay passing Tasman Arch and Devils Kitchen lookouts. The tour boat in the picture is the one we were going on the next day. The views of the coastline on the walk were amazing.

Tasman Arch

We went along this coast on the boat the next day

In the afternoon we took a drive up to Lime Bay campground to check it out for a campsite but in the end decided not to move up there.  Called into the convict coal mines historic site. They had it hard working in the mines, the cells were very tiny with no windows.  

Next day we packed up the van early and headed over to Port Arthur to join the Tasman Island Cruise boat.  We had an amazing three hour cruise from Eaglehawk Neck down the eastern coastline to Tasman Island then up into Port Arthur.  It was a good day for it and the seas were relatively calm.  We saw some albatross, lots of fur seals and large pod of dolphins.

Tasman Arch from below

The seals had a great time frollicking in the water, right in front of us.

What an incredible coastline, just another amazing Tasmanian experience.